Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway to capture his 85th career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. Busch led seven different times for 150 of the 200 laps ran. The Las Vegas native started the race on the pole and stayed upfront for the entire day.
“It was a hard-fought battle. Seemed like it was going to easy for us, we had a superfast car and when we were out front, I could take it easy on those long runs and we could drive away,” said Busch after the race. “The car would turn so well. A lot of things were trying to work against us at the end of the race. We were able to persevere and do the right things and have lucky restarts and be in the right grooves and not get caught up in the mealy that was happening. A lot of cautions today. Overall this NOS Energy Drink Camry was awesome. I can’t say enough about my guys on this team – they do a great job each and every week. I use the XFINITY One ap all the time, that fans should too. We appreciate the fans as well and being able to put this Toyota Camry in victory lane today.”
Busch now holds nine victories,13 top five and 13 top 10 finishes through 16 starts in 2016. The NOS Energy Drink Toyota driver will leave Kansas Speedway with his fourth victory at the 1.5-mile Midwest track.
Elliott Sadler will walk away with the runner-up finishing position in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Sadler started the day in eighth and stayed inside the top 10 for most of the day. The Virginia native will also be the highest Chase finisher and will lead the standings as the series goes on a two-week hiatus.
Sadler will walk away with 13 top five and 27 top 10 finishes through 30 races.
Daniel Suarez snagged a third-place finish in his No. 19 ARRIS Toyota. Suarez came into the day seeded first atop the Chase standings going into the first race in the Round of Eight. The native of Mexico posted his second top 10 finish in his second start at Kansas Speedway and sits second in the Chase standings. He now has 16 top five and 24 top 10 finishes in 2016.
Several Chase drivers were involved in race accidents in the Kansas Lottery 300. That included Darrell Wallace Jr. who spun in turn two on lap 164. That crash also involved Chase driver Justin Allgaier. All drivers in the six car wreck either made it back to pit road or were treated and released from the infield care center.
The next Chase driver who fell a victim of bad luck was Brendan Gaughan. Gaughan was caught up in an accident with Ross Chastain on lap 176. Gaughan would later return to the track 17 laps down with seven laps to go..
Chase Standings leaving Kansas:
- Elliott Sadler Leader
- Daniel Suarez -0
- Blake Koch -7
- Justin Allgaier -12
- Erik Jones -12
- Ryan Reed -14
- Brendan Gaughan -29
- Darrell Wallace Jr. -30
Erik Jones had an issue with a flat tire as the race just passed halfway. Jones made contact with another driver that caused a major tire rub and then a flat later on. The Michigan native, who started second beside teammate Kyle Busch, will leave Kansas with the 15th spot.
“He (Kyle Larson) said it was his fault. He owned up to it, got me ran over,” said Jones after the incident. “It is what it is. It’s the same situation to the 3 (Austin Dillon) and 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) last week in the Cup race. He just said he got a good start and there was no hole there, nowhere to go with the run he had just got into my left rear and turned us. It’s a shame, we both had fast cars. I had a fast Reser’s Camry and he was fast too and I’m sure we could have gotten up front and raced for it. We just needed laps to get a charge. Just unnecessary aggression, I’ve got a lot to lose and he’s got nothing to lose and that’s what’s tough in these races. It’s tough for him to be in that spot – I’ve been there. You still just have to use your head a little bit and can’t make those kind of mistakes.”
The next race for the NASCAR XFINITY Series will be in two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway. Coverage will be live on NBC starting at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM Channel 90 will carry the live radio broadcast.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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